Injuries

According to this Detroit News ARTICLE, Jake Butt is recovering well from his ACL injury and was able to run some yesterday without pain. Coach Hoke anticipates that he could be game-ready by the third or fourth game of the season. There's a lot of time between now and then, but it sounds like it's more likely than not that Michigan will have Butt available in time for the B1G season, with one or two games already under his belt to shake off the proverbial rust.

Hoke see's Butt's rehab situation as being similar to Jake Ryan's recovery from ACL injury:

“I would think to really have him back where you’d want him, it probably would be game three or four,” Hoke said this spring of Butt. “So it is similar in some ways to (Ryan), but we’ll just have to see. Everybody heals differently.” From The Detroit News: http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20140528/SPORTS0201/305280109#ixzz336jW6N1G

Looks like the old remedy for pitchers isn't really helping (well except to numb soreness momentarily). Thought with so many involved and active in so many people here involved in different sports this knowledge should be widespread.

Link takes you to an excerpt that talks about the toll playing football takes on human bodies. The excerpt's from Nate Jackson's book on his NFL career, which may not be typical of NFL careers but isn't exactly strange. The point about the injuries is that ignoring one leads to another, and rehabbing that instead of fixing it leads to another, and etc. etc.

Hot Take: Since we talk about what's in it for the kids all the time, I guess it lends some perspective to remember these guys have to spend the next 60 years paying for their football careers.

No one seems to want to report the sad/bad "breaks" incurred by Central Michigan in yesterday's game against Michigan. MLive reported last night that the Michigan Defense (1) knocked CMU starting quarterback Cody Kater out of the game with a broken collarbone and (2) knocked CMU starting running back out of the game with a broken ankle.

This is obviously very sad news for the players themselves, their families, and teammates.

The "breaks" significantly impact CMU's future offensive options as well as their depth. Here's wishing them as rapid a recovery as each can safely achieve. Michigan followers certainly can appreciate such bad "breaks."

Looks like the injury bug has hit a position with very little depth for OSU. Tommy Schutt was looking to be their starter at one of the DT positions (link says he was a backup at both, but I'm not sure I really believe that, he was going to play significantly and probably eventually start). They have little depth around him and almost no experience even with him. Going into the season, DT was probably their biggest concern, even more than an OL with serious depth issues. Well, that situation just got worse.

The OOC schedule is still easy, but teams like Wisconson, NW, Iowa, and PSU are the first four up in B1G play. Even when Schutt comes back he's unlikely to be 100%. While OSU has playmakers in the back end and in the pass rush, their lack of experience in the middle made them potentially weak against the run. Against the B1G teams listed above you don't want to be weak against the run. Wisconsin could pull out a big victory; NW, while being more of an outside run team, could potentially get OL to the LB level; Iowa is still good at blocking in the interior and with a few lucky bounces could be in a game they have no business being in; and PSU may be able to run the ball to take some pressure off their young QBs.

I still wouldn't expect many loses from that group of games, because the offense is still the offense. But this gives teams a chance and likely makes victory that much harder for the Buckeyes. Hate to see injuries regardless, but this is a big one for OSU.